The Nerima Returners
by JadeDixon
Summary: Ranma-FF6. In the final fight, Terra casts a spell that sends herself and her friends to another dimension. With Nabiki's help, she hopes to find a way home. Things are complicated when Ranma gets in an accident...
1. Prologue A Fight Delayed

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI or Ranma 1/2, nor do I pretend to. Even if I did, the army of lawyers that would come after me would make me change my mind.^_^  
  
The Nerima Returners  
  
A Final Fantasy VI and Ranma 1/2 Crossover  
  
By Jade Dixon  
  
Prologue- A Fight Delayed  
  
Last Revised: April 25, 2003  
  
It had been a year since the eternal twilight began. Friends lost had been found, self-discoveries had been made, and determination was solidified. The Returners had gathered together for a common purpose, to destroy Kefka. Knowing that the fate of their ruined world rested on their shoulders, they prepared themselves for one final fight. They scaled the demonic tower resting on the ruins of Vector, until they finally found Kefka on the summit, as suited his dramatic impulses. The battle was harsh, and Kefka summoned monsters from the depths of his lair to divide their numbers. Blood was drawn on both sides, wounds given and received, and players shifted positions. Their determination did not waver.  
  
  
  
But, sometimes, determination is not enough.  
  
  
  
When the thought finally began to permeate them that they might not succeed, it was Terra, Locke, Celes, and Relm who were engaged in battle with Kefka. The others were fighting the surrounding monsters, or too wounded to fight anymore. Strago watched helplessly as his granddaughter fought a battle far beyond any of their capabilities. Perhaps it was hopeless to fight a man who had absorbed the powers of three goddesses, but none of them regretted trying. There had been no choice.  
  
Celes was too exhausted to cast magic anymore. She slumped to her knees, absorbing magic through her sword whenever she could, but otherwise too occupied trying to stay alive to be much help. A blast of magic knocked Relm down, and she did not get back up. Locke, with his speed and stealth, was still managing to weave through the majority of Kefka's attacks and defences to wound the man whenever he could, but it was obvious that he would not be able to keep it up forever. Terra had morphed to her Esper form earlier in the battle, but had long ago exhausted her ability to stay in it. Now she cast whatever magic she could, healing or offensive, determined to keep this battle going as long as possible, still hoping against hope that they could win, so that her children would be safe.  
  
Terra's exhaustion became apparent when she failed to notice an attack heading towards her, and was knocked onto her back. She lay there, dazed, as Locke attracted the whole of Kefka's attention to himself, waiting for her to get back to her feet. She clutched the magicite she had decided to carry with her into battle. Mauduin, her father. It was 'just in case' she had told herself. In case she died, she wanted to be with her father at the end. *"Do we have any chance at all?"* she asked him.  
  
*"Yes,"* was the surprising answer.  
  
********************  
  
Terra wasn't getting back up. Celes felt a moment of despair; surely the other magic user hadn't died, had she? No, her eyes were still open, but they didn't seem to be focused on anything. The Magitek soldier reached deep within herself, trying desperately to summon some ounce of the power she had been infused with, just enough to heal Terra so she would get back on her feet. Locke was going to be killed! She felt a spark, but it was too little to do anything with. Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried harder, refusing to give up.  
  
A ringing sound began in her ears, and she knew that it wasn't a good thing, knew that she was just going to knock herself out if she kept this up, but still she didn't stop. Her vision began to black out, and still it wasn't enough, but she channelled it to Terra anyways. Perhaps it would be enough to jolt her back to her senses. 'And what about Relm?' a traitorous voice piped up in the back of her head. 'She's near enough for you to help, too...' But Celes knew the answer to that. Relm had gotten knocked out almost before she began; she wasn't as valuable as Terra. She was filled with self-loathing, but her soldier instincts ruled her in battle, and she knew that the child artist would just be a liability, while Terra had still been fighting, right up to her injury. Celes fell into blissful unconsciousness, just as Terra began to get to her feet again.  
  
********************  
  
Locke ducked and dodged, slashed and hacked, and hoped and prayed that Terra or Celes would get up soon. He was fast, but so was Kefka, and fatigue was beginning to creep in. His responses were slowing down; he couldn't keep Kefka's full attention for much longer. He sensed some magic behind him and sighed with relief. He'd have help soon. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Celes fall to the ground, unconscious. He squashed the worry he felt; he couldn't afford to let his feelings distract him. He thought the spark of magic he had felt was from her, and hoped that meant that Terra or Relm would be ready soon. What he sensed surprised him, though. It was a great surge of magic, one that was very familiar. It didn't make sense, there was no way that Terra could have gained that much energy from such a short rest, but she must have.  
  
Terra was morphing.  
  
********************  
  
Relm couldn't move. She felt useless. Kefka had been too big, there had been too much to capture about him. Trying to paint his portrait had been a mistake, and one that she had paid for. Now she was out of the fight, and none of the others could spare a moment to check on her. Through slitted eyes she watched Celes collapse, and then Terra fall. She watched as Celes sent the last of her power to Terra, and Terra finally succeed with the struggle to get back to her feet, just as Celes fell unconscious.  
  
She watched as Terra transformed into her Esper form.  
  
It was something that she had always loved to witness. Light seemed to burst out from the green-haired girl, until it was all she was. A gentle lily aura surrounded her, giving her an encompassing halo, and highlighting her eyes, which remained sentient and gentle. She was a beautiful being, something out of legends. Relm had always thought that someday she'd like to paint her like this, to see if she could capture this faerie on canvas, to make it seem to /live/ in the canvas, as all the best of her portraits seemed to.  
  
  
  
But now it seemed she wouldn't get the chance. They were out of time.  
  
********************  
  
Terra embraced her alien half, the part of herself that sometimes scared her, and sometimes delighted her. She always felt lighter when she was in her Esper form, her feet just barely touching the ground as the magic that coursed through her kept her levitated. She felt strained, it was too soon to be doing this, but her iron willpower kept her form steady just long enough.  
  
She tilted her head back, her hair falling against the backs of her calves as she began to pool her magic, preparing the spell her father had just finished teaching her, his whispers still echoing in the back of her mind. She cast.  
  
********************  
  
The Returners watched in awe as Terra morphed into her Esper body. Even the monsters attacking them paused, feeling the strength of the magic being gathered. There was a bright flash of light, and when they could see again, their friends had disappeared.  
  
So had Kefka.  
  
********************  
  
Awareness came slowly. Terra's thoughts were muddled and unfocused as she tried to remember where she was, and why. She felt very light, even more than when she was in her Esper form, and dissociated from her body. The second point panicked her. She still remembered vividly her experiences under the Empire's Slave Crown, and had no wish to repeat the experience. She would not be used again!  
  
*"Calm yourself, daughter,"* Mauduin advised her. *"Remember the battle."*  
  
And the memories flooded her. Losing, not willing to lose. Falling, not being able to get up. Her father's voice, teaching her a spell, one she needed to be in Esper form to use. Casting.  
  
*"It worked then?"* she asked, still jittery.  
  
*"Yes, it worked. All within range have been transported to another dimension."*  
  
*"Why can't I see? Why do I feel so strange?"*  
  
  
  
*"Because your bodies are not of this dimension, it is hard for them to exist here. They are stored in the 'space' between the two worlds, waiting for you to return. Your minds are hosted by citizens of this new dimension who are compatible with you. Your host appears to be sleeping,"* Mauduin explained.  
  
*"Will I be able to communicate with her?"* Terra asked.  
  
Terra got the feeling of amusement from her father. *"What makes you think that it is automatically a female host?"* Terra spluttered for a bit before he took pity on his daughter. *"No, you will not be able to communicate with them directly, and yes, it is a female for you. You will be able to 'possess' her from time to time, but I do not recommend doing it too much, as it will arouse suspicion, even though your host will not remember the experience."*  
  
*"And the others?"*  
  
*"They sleep, deep in the minds of their hosts. They will be awakened only when the Key is found, and it is time for you to return. As the caster, it is your responsibility to watch for the Key, or to appoint another if you, too, wish to sleep."*  
  
*"And when we return, Kefka will be weak for a moment before he can access the Goddess' powers again?"*  
  
*"Yes."*  
  
Silence reigned as Terra pondered her situation.  
  
Then, 16 year old Tendo Kasumi woke up.  
  
Terra spent the next few weeks observing her host's life. She especially looked for someone she could trust with her existence. Kasumi's father was too emotional, and protective, he would likely try to evict Terra's consciousness, if there was a power in this world that was capable of doing so. Her youngest sister shared the father's protective instincts, and also had a drive for power. Even if she did not try to destroy Terra, the Esper was not sure if she could trust the girl with the magic she would need. The besotted doctor wouldn't listen to her before going off into that little world of his. That left Nabiki, the middle Tendo daughter. Nabiki was protective of her family, like the others, but not to the same degree. Also, she tended to look at things more intellectually than the others, which might give her a chance to explain her situation. While not ideal, she admitted that she would need help to find the Key, and she was the only option.  
  
So she took control of Kasumi's body while the girl put something on to bake, and arranged a meeting with Nabiki.  
  
********************  
  
"Come in!" Nabiki called from her desk, where she was doing her homework. While slightly surprised to see Kasumi enter the room, she masked it well.  
  
Her sister smiled at her gently. "May I talk to you, Nabiki?" she asked.  
  
There was something off about her smile, Nabiki noted, but simply asked, "Business, or pleasure?" with a grin. Kasumi rarely wanted to talk business.  
  
Which is why it surprised her, when she cocked her head to the side for a moment to ponder, and finally answered the former. "I'll only pay 500 yen, though," she said sternly. Nabiki didn't care, she was in too much shock. /This must be another ploy of Kasumi's to lecture me about my social habits,/ she thought. As for the price, well, she'd been finding it harder and harder to charge her sister for anything these days, and probably would have only been able to bring herself to charge something like 100 yen if the older girl hadn't set the price first.  
  
"Alright," Nabiki agreed. Kasumi closed the door behind her as she entered the room fully. She crossed the room to sit on the bed, and sat down, straightening her skirt as she did so. Nabiki swivelled in her desk chair to face her sister properly.  
  
********************  
  
And so, Terra began to reveal her presence to the shorter haired girl.  
  
She told her about the spell, and her true identity; about her world, and the fight she was immersed in. To her credit, after an initial jaw drop of surprise, Nabiki managed to keep her face schooled into a blank mask. When Terra was done, she waited for the girl's response.  
  
The middle Tendo arched an eyebrow in amusement. Obviously Kasumi was playing a joke of some kind, but perhaps she should play along for a few minutes longer. "Alright, 'Terra'," she began, "Let's see some proof, shall we?"  
  
"Very well," Terra replied solemnly, not realizing that Nabiki wasn't really serious. She held her hands together, and Nabiki was shocked to see her sister enveloped in a faint orange glow. When the glow faded, a small, oval rock sat in Kasumi's hands. It was an emerald green, and seemed to have a small red gem embedded in its centre.  
  
"Wha..." Nabiki was shocked speechless; her mind couldn't process what her senses were telling her. After all, magic wasn't /real/, was it? "How did...? What /are/ you? What is that thing?"  
  
Terra frowned. Hadn't the girl been listening during her explanation? "I'm Terra, a half-Human, half-Esper. I used my magic to summon a piece of magicite. This is Mauduin. He was my father before he died." The last was said wistfully, regret for a joy never known.  
  
'This is a dream,' Nabiki thought to herself. This calmed her greatly; after all, if it was a dream, there was no harm in acting as though it were real. "Your father?" she asked. "How did he die?"  
  
"The Empire, of course," Terra responded bitterly. "They destroyed everything they touched." Terra took a deep breath. "Please, Nabiki. I need your help. The 'Key' is the only way for my friends and myself to get home, and our only chance to defeat Kefka. I could try and find it on my own, but to do that I'd be forced to intrude upon your sister's life constantly. If I know that there's someone helping me, then I can take a more passive role." Terra rose from the bed and walked over to the chair Nabiki was sitting in before kneeling in front of her. She took the younger girl's hands in her own and looked straight into her eyes. "Please Nabiki, you're my only hope."  
  
"How could I possibly help you?" Nabiki asked weakly, helpless in the face of the freedom fighter's earnestness. "You have powers beyond my comprehension, and... and I'd have no idea what this 'key' is that you're looking for..."  
  
Terra smiled brilliantly at Nabiki's implicit offer for help, overjoyed that things were beginning to work out. Nabiki was stunned. Yes, she knew that this was some alien named 'Terra' but it was her sister's body, and her sister had never smiled like that. Kasumi always seemed to be smiling, but it was a smile meant to comfort. This was a smile of overwhelming joy, and Nabiki decided at that moment that she wanted to see her sister, mind-body-and-soul, make that smile.  
  
"My father can teach you the rudiments of magic, although a lot of it will depend on your own innate ability. Unfortunately I can't summon any of the other magicite, as I don't have as strong of a connection with them, so there aren't many actual spells he will be able to teach you. As for the Key," Terra had the grace to blush in embarrassment. "I'm afraid that you know just about as much as I do. Father says that it can be a person, place, or thing, depending on the circumstances in the dimension. All we know is that it will have an intense magical signature."  
  
"Wait, wait, hold on a second, time-out!" Nabiki butted in after a moment. "Your /father/? I thought you said that your father was dead, and that rock was all that was left of him!"  
  
Terra sighed, in exasperation; this was such common knowledge to her that she had forgotten that people outside her circle of friends wouldn't understand what she was talking about. She stepped back and began to lecture. "For Espers, even death isn't really final. When they die, they turn into /magicite/," she emphasized the term, and indicated the 'rock' as Nabiki had put it. "They can still communicate, although it is easier and more fluid with those who have great magical potential. Otherwise the most they can normally do is impart their knowledge of spells. In the Esper world, most people learned only a few spells, and specialized in them, which is why Mauduin won't be able to teach you that much. But at least you'll be able to sense magic."  
  
"So, if I decide to help you, and mind you that I'm still saying 'if', I'll get to learn magic?"  
  
"That's correct."  
  
"And what if I decide you're loony, and spill the beans?"   
  
Terra stared blankly. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked, unfamiliar with the expressions Nabiki had used. Nabiki dropped her head into her hands in despair.  
  
"I said, what if I decided not to help you?" she simplified, and modified slightly.  
  
Terra let her face smooth over as she embraced a neutral expression. "That is, of course, you're choice, I cannot force you to do anything. But I hope you will at least consider it."  
  
Nabiki thought about it for a few moments. There were two options, she was dreaming or this was real. If it was a dream, none of this mattered, but if it was real, it would be a big risk. 'What the hell,' she finally thought. 'Time to make a gamble, I suppose.' What she said out loud was, "If I help you, you'll leave Kasumi alone?"  
  
Again, Nabiki was faced with that brilliant smile. "As much as I am able." When it looked like Nabiki was going to protest, she held up a hand for silence. "What I mean is, I will need to take control occasionally to talk with you about anything you've found; and when the Key is found, I will need to take control until I can be returned to my own body. But I will try to keep my presence in her life to a minimum."  
  
"Then you've got yourself a deal," Nabiki said with a grin, and held out her hand. They shook on it, and Terra grinned a returning smile. Nabiki caught a strange scent in the air, and took a sniff. "Do you smell something burning?" she asked quizzically, to her new partner. Terra also took a deep breath before her eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth.  
  
"Oh, no!" she cried, already rushing for the door. "Kasumi's baking!" Nabiki's hysterical laughter followed her out into the hall after a pause. Nabiki saw that Terra had left Mauduin behind and picked the magicite up, with a bit of trepidation. 'Might as well get this over with,' she thought to herself, and began to learn about a whole new world she had never known existed before.  
  
Kasumi never figured out how she had lost track of time so badly.  
  
********************  
  
Time passed, and Nabiki painstakingly learned the theory behind magic. She learned, from the occasional conversation with Terra, that most of her friends hadn't needed to do that, because they had been taught the spells directly by various pieces of magicite. The advantage to that was that they could learn the spells quickly and easily, while Nabiki, for the most part, had to try and figure things out on her own. While she had learned what spells Mauduin had to offer quickly, they were fairly useless to her as she couldn't exactly cast a second level fire spell without attracting some serious attention. The advantage to Nabiki's method of learning, however, was that she had the knowledge to figure out how to do some things on her own, although it was very trial-and-error based. She just had to be careful because if she made a mistake, the results might be something someone might notice.  
  
Terra and Nabiki formed a friendship, although Terra kept her word about keeping her visits to a minimum. There were a few more accidents in the kitchen, however, that sent the creations to that big bakery in the sky, until Terra got the hand of keeping track of the time.  
  
Time passed.  
  
And eventually a cursed martial artist arrived at the dojo, and an engagement plan was revealed.  
  
After that, things began to get interesting.  
  
Until, one day, the heads of the Tendo and Saotome clans called their families together so they could make another announcement.  
  
********************  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
This is the first time that I've posted any part of this story on FanFiction.Net, but I have posted the old version of it on my webpage and on the FFML before. This is the revised version, and revisions are still going on for the rest of the completed chapters. C&C would be greatly appreciated!  
  
Also, (shameless plug^_^) I have a Chrono Cross fanfic posted here as well, so if you're interested, go to my author profile to check it out. 


	2. Chapter One Plans Revealed

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI or Ranma 1/2, nor do I pretend to. Even if I did, the army of lawyers that would come after me would make me change my mind.^_^  
  
The Nerima Returners  
  
A Final Fantasy VI and Ranma 1/2 Crossover  
  
By Jade Dixon  
  
Chapter 1- Plans Revealed  
  
Last Revised: August 20, 2003  
  
When Nabiki had first seen Ranma, elation had filled her, mixed with disappointment. She had been hoping for a cute fiancé, and wound up finding a sullen girl. On the brighter side of things, the girl had the most powerful magical aura she had ever seen, excluding Terra. She hoped that this meant that Ranma was the Key to Terra's spell, and that Kasumi would be left alone soon. However, before she could confer with the mage, the Jusenkyo curses had been revealed, and Nabiki had realized that it had most likely been the curse she had been sensing.  
  
The disappointment was extremely bitter. Before Ranma, she had never seen anyone with a magical aura strong enough to even /possibly/ be the Key. Nevertheless, that night she brought her suspicions to Terra.  
  
A sad gaze was what Nabiki received after her report. Terra looked down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap as she sat on the bed in Nabiki's room.  
  
"I understand what you mean, Nabiki. But you were right. The signature does come from their curses. I was watching as well, through Kasumi's eyes. You probably didn't stay near the 'panda' long enough to notice, but it had just as strong an aura as Ranma did. And it doesn't change when they're in their natural forms either." A sigh escaped the girl's lips, and they twisted into a bitter parody of a smile. "I'm afraid that I got my hopes up just as much as you did."  
  
"So what do we do now?" Nabiki asked irritably.  
  
"We keep watching, and hope for success. What other choice do we have?" They stared at each other grimly. As much as they had come to enjoy each other's company, Terra wanted to go home, and Nabiki wanted Kasumi to be able to lead a normal life.  
  
"We keep watching, then."  
  
And after that there was nothing more to be said.  
  
Of course, Ranma seemed to attract trouble like a magnet, and many had strong magical signatures. But disappointment came again and again as explanations for each and every one materialized. Ryoga was their best candidate thus far, but Terra had dismissed him shortly after they started considering that he could be the one. The frustrating thing was that she wouldn't explain why she had dismissed him. All she would say is, "You'll either figure it out, or you won't. It's not my place to reveal his secrets, though."  
  
So Nabiki continued to search, and she always kept Ryoga as a candidate in the back of her mind, despite Terra's dismissal.  
  
********************  
  
When Genma and Soun called their children down for a 'family discussion', it was a beautiful day, if a bit chilly. It was a Sunday, meaning no school for the kids, and they had all meandered off to pursue various activities around the house. Ranma had headed towards the dojo to train, so Akane had gone up to her room to work on some homework. She would just have to train later. She was in no mood to but up with her fiancé's taunts. Kasumi went to the kitchen to begin cleaning up after breakfast, and Nabiki had gone up to her room to go over her accounts. The two men had settled themselves at the Go board to finalize their plans before revealing them to the children. Once that was done, the job of herding them together was necessary. Kasumi, humming cheerfully to herself in the kitchen, was easy to find. She gave her father one of her patented smiles and assured him that she'd be out in just a minute. Nabiki, while just as easy to find, wasn't quite as easy to pass the message along to.  
  
"Family discussion?" she asked in a disbelieving tone, eyebrow quirked. "Now where does this sound vaguely familiar from?" she questioned idly, her eyebrow rising a fraction higher and a smirk forming on her face. She stood up, closing the ledger she had been going over at her desk, and enjoyed her father's flustered expression. "Well, Akane will be relieved that she doesn't have anything to worry about this time, at least," she teased as she left the room. "If it's all the same though, you can be the one to break the news to her." She wandered down the hallway, heading downstairs towards the family room.  
  
Akane, contrary to Nabiki's prediction, didn't get upset, or even connect the meeting to the one where she had wound up engaged to Ranma. She was just relieved it was the whole family, and not just herself and Ranma. Who knew what it would be about otherwise?  
  
By the time all of the Tendo's had made it to the family room, Genma had finally managed to get the Go board arranged to his liking. Of course, this meant that he hadn't gone to get Ranma. Knowing that if he left now, Soun would have a chance to rearrange the board to his own advantage, Genma made a quick tactical decision.  
  
"Would you terribly mind going to get Ranma, Akane? I couldn't find him in the house, but I think he might have gone out to the dojo for a bit."  
  
Soun, who hadn't noticed the Go board manipulations, thought this was a superb idea. Anything to get his daughter and Ranma closer together, no matter in how small a way, was a step closer to his baby girl getting married and uniting the two schools. "Yes, yes! Excellent suggestion, Saotome. And while we're waiting we can finish the game we were having..."  
  
Akane growled something under her breath about meddling parents, but got up and stalked out to the dojo. It wasn't that she was jealous of how much better than her Ranma was, but did he have to rub it in so much?  
  
Okay, so maybe she was jealous. But just a /little/ bit.  
  
Luckily for her, she didn't have to actually watch Ranma do things that right now she could only dream of. She was halfway along the path to the dojo, when Ranma came out on his own, still wearing his training gi, and obviously headed up towards the bath.  
  
"Dojo's free if you want to train," he called out as they approached each other. Akane paused where she stood. He didn't /know/ that she didn't want to train with, and be overshadowed by, him, did he? She immediately became defensive.  
  
"And what's /that/ supposed to mean, Ranma?" she asked crossly. "Am I not allowed to train while you're in there?"  
  
Even Ranma could sense the dangerous hint in her voice, and understood he had offended her somehow. Frantically, he tried to fix it.  
  
"Of course not! I just thought that you might want to train alone or something."  
  
"And why would that be? Are you implying that I should be too ashamed to train with someone of /your/ calibre, Mister Hot-Shot?" She seethed. 'Does he know? Does he know? Does he know?' ran desperately through her head.  
  
"I never said that!" he yelled at her. "You just haven't trained yet today, so I thought maybe you wanted to be alone for some reason. You workin' on a secret move or somethin'?" he tried desperately, really hoping that he wouldn't be sent airborne that morning.  
  
Akane turned her head and sniffed disdainfully. "Unlike you, /some/ of us actually put some effort into our schoolwork and have to do homework. Anyways, our parents want to talk to all of us, so come on already." She turned on her heel and walked away, not even bothering to see if he was following. Inside she was filled with relief. 'He doesn't know.' They walked the rest of the way in silence.  
  
********************  
  
When they arrived at the family room, Akane pointedly waited for Ranma to sit down first, and then sat down on the opposite side of the table from him. Soun's eyes teared up a bit as he noted their arrival. Not any closer to a wedding today.  
  
"How was your work-out, Ranma?" Kasumi asked in the silence that followed.  
  
"Oh, er... fine I guess, Kasumi," he replied, sending confused glances towards Akane as he tried to figure out what he'd done to upset her.  
  
"That's good," she said with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, great," Nabiki added in, unenthusiastically. "Now, can we please get on with this?" she asked. In her life, things fit into three categories: Money, Terra's Spell, and Not Worth My Time. The 'discussion' was currently in the third category, although if it would get started, it could possibly have its status upgraded to the first. She somehow doubted that it had anything to do with Terra's spell, although she wouldn't complain if the solution to /that/ problem spontaneously revealed itself.  
  
"Ah, yes. I'm glad you brought that up, Nabiki," Soun began a bit nervously. It's not that he didn't agree with the plan, it was just that he wasn't sure how his daughters would take it. And so he explained to them. Each of them reacted differently. Kasumi set down her teacup, gasped and went, "Oh my!", her now free hand going up to cover her mouth.  
  
Akane's eyes bulged, and spluttering sounds began to emerge from her mouth that, if left untended, could explode into a full rant.  
  
Ranma just leaned an arm on the table and yawned into his hand. What was the big deal anyways?  
  
Nabiki frowned and leaned across the table to look at her father. "Let me get this straight; you intend to leave four teenagers, only one out of school, unsupervised, while the two of you go off on some sort of training trip? How long did you say you intended to be gone for again?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Er... when you put it like that..." Soun stuttered. Luckily for him, Genma broke in.  
  
"Nonsense!" he bellowed. "It's only for two months, at the absolute longest! Kasumi can watch over the household on her own for that short period of time. And Ranma can protect you should anything happen!" Nabiki gave him her most contemptuous glare.  
  
"I bet this was your idea, wasn't it?"  
  
"That's enough, Nabiki!" Akane spoke up suddenly. After the initial shock had worn off, she had thought closer on the situation. Their father hadn't done much in the way of training since their mother had died, and perhaps this was a sign of his returning interest in practicing the Art. She was willing to put up with any amount of foolishness if it meant her father got some life back in his eyes. Well, except for marrying Ranma. That was just /too/ foolish. "If this is something they want to do that badly, we should let them. Like Mr. Saotome said, it's only for a couple of months." She paused, then gulped inaudibly. Now that she mentioned it, two months did seem like an awfully long time. Who knew what could happen?  
  
'Oh joyous day!' Soun thought. 'Maybe Saotome's plan will work after all!' The plan was to leave the children on their own, and maybe without the imposing presence of their parents Ranma and Akane would finally begin to confess their feelings for each other!  
  
"I have a bad feeling about this," Nabiki muttered under her breath.  
  
*******************  
  
The next week passed with a flurry of preparations, not so much for the sake of their fathers, who could probably pack in mere minutes, but for those being left behind. The school had to be informed that Kasumi would be the one to contact in case of an emergency, and any financial matters had to be clued up for the duration of the time Soun would be away. The few classes that Soun did teach had to be put on hiatus, and their lesson plan had to be extended to cover the missing time. In order to soothe any worries that the students would fall out of practice, the dojo would be left open for the use of all current students during specific periods of time each day, which would be supervised by Ranma or Akane. Nabiki groaned that they would still lose some of the precious few students they had to this hiatus, despite those precautions, but Soun and Genma would not be swayed.  
  
And so, one week later they were saying their good-byes.  
  
"You're certain about this, Father?" Kasumi queried gently, still unsure about being in charge.  
  
"You'll do fine, Kasumi," he encouraged her, tears pouring down his face at the separation. "We'll be back before you know it. We may not even stay out there for the full two-months."  
  
"It's not too late to change your mind," Nabiki argued, still seeing the students leaving. "You can call them all right now, tell them you're staying, that they don't need to find somewhere else to study!" Her voice trailed off into what was a pleading note for Nabiki.  
  
The tears in Soun's eyes became heavier. His lower lip began to tremble. Steadfastly, he held the sobs back. "It'll be alright, Nabiki."  
  
She sighed in resignation. Akane had been /way/ too supportive of this, otherwise she was /sure/ that she could have persuaded him to back out at this point. Speaking of Akane...  
  
"Have fun, Dad," she cheered him. "Take care of yourself!"  
  
"Akane!" he sobbed, and finally lost his battle, crying flat-out as he hugged his youngest daughter good-bye.  
  
The parting between Ranma and Genma was understandably less emotional.  
  
"Don't sell Mr. Tendo for a bowl of rice and two fish if you get hungry," he advised, with a rebellious glare.  
  
"Impudent whelp!" Genma retorted. Soon the two were locked in a fight, a dust cloud encompassing them as they said good-bye in their own fashion.  
  
When the dust finally settled, and the good-byes had been finished, the two men shouldered their packs, and walked off into the sunset, leaving their families behind.  
  
"Y'know," Nabiki spoke up finally, as the men got further away, "They really should have picked a better time to leave. I mean, that /has/ to be bad for the eyes."  
  
"I hope they remembered to bring sunglasses," Kasumi joined in worriedly.  
  
When they were finally out of site, the teenagers headed back into the house.  
  
*******************  
  
That night, as Kasumi got ready for bed, Terra gently took control. It was just for a few minutes, and wasn't /really/ disrupting Kasumi's life. She rarely even noticed the passing of a few unaccounted minutes. Terra found her senses were too muted when she watched through the eldest Tendo's eyes, so every now and again she liked to take control, just to get a feel for the air. She moved to the window, and gazed out into the night sky. Taking a deep breath she revelled in the sensations that flooded her mind. Even this little intrusion she rarely allowed herself, and it was a joy to have a body for a few moments.  
  
Something didn't feel right, however. She wasn't sure if it was Kasumi's unease at her father's departure she was feeling, or something else. There was a heavy feel to the air.  
  
Kasumi's face hardened into a frown. Not the concerned frown she occasionally wore, but Terra's frown from when she considered how she was going to support her children in a ruined world. The frown of someone who had seen hard times, and sees more in the future.  
  
"Something's wrong," she muttered. "But what?"  
  
She received no answer.  
  
She sighed and moved away from the window, back to where Kasumi had been when she'd taken control. It was time for her to go back to being a passenger again.   
  
She silently wished Kasumi pleasant dreams.  
  
And she prayed that whatever was coming would not be too disastrous.  
  
********************  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Well, that's the first chapter finished. The next chapter will begin getting into the more serious plot. I'd like to thank Kell Shock and Dan Inverse for reviewing! I really appreciate it! On a side note, I'm actively looking for pre-readers (sometimes known as beta-readers) to help me proof-read this! My current ones are too busy at the moment, which I can understand since real life takes precedence over anything else. So if anyone's interested, drop me a line! 


	3. Chapter Two The Accident

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or Final Fantasy VI, nor do I pretend to. Even if I did the army of lawyers that would come after me would make me change my mind.^_^  
  
Note: I'm placing this before manga 22 and the anime equivalent when Nodoka Saotome is introduced. Therefore I'll be taking some liberties both with the situation and her character. Please try and bear with me.  
  
This chapter is dedicated to Jerry, who helped me get over the terrible block I was having, and who without this chapter might never have been finished. Thanks Jerry!  
  
Thanks to my pre-readers Kell Shock and Netara! You guys are the best!  
  
The Nerima Returners  
  
A Final Fantasy VI and Ranma 1/2 Crossover  
  
By Jade Dixon  
  
Chapter 2- The Accident  
  
Last Revised: August 20, 2003  
  
********************  
  
It had started out innocently enough. It wasn't an uncommon occurence in Nerima at all. Somebody would start chasing Ranma; others who had an interest in Ranma (romantically or otherwise) would join in the chase to make sure that their claim was represented. Eventually, half of Nerima would be involved, or so it would seem. Little did those involved realize that, one day, that regular activity would nearly turn deadly.  
  
It was a chase like any other. Except, perhaps, for the fact that on this particular day, they had ventured farther out than usual, all the way to the outskirts of Nerima, where the people weren't as used to the chaos that followed Ranma. That fact would be a blessing in the end. However, because they were not used to the area, they did not realize that there was a deep ravine, and that they were headed directly towards it.  
  
Although Ranma was usually aware of his surroundings, and would have been able to avoid the drop, at the moment where he especially needed to have been paying attention, he was distracted by attacks from both Ryoga and Kuno, who were caught up in the heat of battle. It was Akane who finally noticed where they were headed at the last minute. In desperation, she tried to warn those who were locked in battle with a cry of "Look out!"  
  
Ryoga and Kuno, both very attuned to listening to what Akane was saying, immediately took in their surroundings, and managed to keep from going over the edge, although just barely. Ranma was not so fortunate. Disoriented by the sudden cessation of the fight, it took a second too long to register Akane's warning, and by then it was too late. He had already slipped off the edge.   
  
The last thing he saw before casting his attention towards salvaging the situation were the worried faces of all the people of Nerima that had put him in this position.  
  
*******************  
  
As he fell, it seemed to him that time had slowed down. He looked around desperately trying to find something, anything, to grab onto. Seeing a branch rapidly approaching, he quickly angled his body so that he could grab onto it more easily. As his body's inertia tried to keep going after he had gotten a hold of it, he felt a wrenching pain in his arm sockets, before his body settled. A pang of dismay swept through Ranma as he heard a cracking sound. The branch wasn't going to hold. And he wasn't even going to get a chance to try and swing himself back up to the top of the ravine, any attempt would just make the branch break that much quicker. The pig-tailed martial artist wished that the branch had been farther down, so that at least there would be less of a drop once it gave out. Then he no longer had any time to wish, as the branch broke, and he began to plummet again.  
  
********************  
  
Shampoo was standing, just staring blankly ahead. She was numb with shock. Mousse tried to comfort her, but she wasn't paying any attention to him. Ukyo had tears streaming down her face as she watched her Ranchan, her fiancé, her *friend*, fall. Akane was watching too, but denial coated her face. She kept waiting for Ranma to do something, something that would save him from this situation. She had smiled with relief when he had grabbed the branch, but that relief had soon turned into despair when she watched it break under his weight. Kuno was forced to restrain Kodachi as she tried to jump after him, believing that she could help in some way. Ryoga didn't know what to do, or feel, which resulted in him just standing there, trying to make sense of the situation. All of the others who had been involved in the chase had discreetly made themselves scarce when they realized that something had gone wrong.  
  
It wasn't until they heard, or in some cases watched, Ranma's impact with the ground that things changed slightly. Shampoo sunk to her knees, reverting to Chinese in her distress. "Wo da airen..." she whispered brokenly. Mousse put a comforting arm around her shoulders, his head bowed in respect for his rival. Akane, already kneeling at the edge of the ravine, bent her head and allowed the tears to flow, a broken "Ranma..." escaping her lips. Her hands clenched until her knuckles turned white from the strain. Like Mousse, Ryoga bent his head, hoping that somehow Ranma had managed to survive. 'It shouldn't have ended like this!' he thought furiously to himself. Kuno allowed his grip on his sister to slacken, as she slumped against him, her body trembling as she tried to hold back her emotions. It was Ukyo who reacted the most violently, however, as a ragged cry of "RANCHAN!!" tore itself from her throat. That seemed to be a cue for herself, and the other girls, to break down into heavy sobs.  
  
A few minutes later, they heard a sound that gave them a shred of hope. The shrill cry of sirens, as ambulances and other emergency vehicles approached the scene. Somebody in the area, being unused to such violent fighting, had reported what had happened.  
  
********************  
  
When they had arrived at the hospital, Akane had enough sense to call her sisters and tell them what had happened. Soon enough, Kasumi and Nabiki had arrived. Nabiki immediately took charge of talking to the doctors about what Ranma's condition was, while Kasumi did her best to comfort the others. She went to each of them, offering a smile, some encouraging words, and something to eat. And by the time she finished with one person, and went to the next, they felt a bit better about the situation.  
  
When Nabiki returned from her talk with a nurse, she felt glad that she had referred to Ranma in the terms of how he was found, and not by a physical description. It appeared he had landed in some water, which had triggered the curse. Had she started asking for a black-haired male when they had brought in a red-headed female, there might have been some uncomfortable questions asked. She walked up to the others and motioned quietly for their attention. It *was* a hospital after all.  
  
She took stock of who was there. Kasumi, who had arrived with her, and Akane who had called them in. Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi were also there, filling out the rest of Ranma's four main 'love interests', as she had privately dubbed them. In the 'rivals' category were Mousse and Kuno. Ryoga had wandered off and gotten lost on the way to the hospital, apparently.  
  
Before she could begin to tell them the little that she had found out so far, Kuno interrupted her. "What sorcery is at work here, Tendo Nabiki? Why is it that Saotome was the one who fell, and yet the authorities retrieved the body of my beloved pig-tailed girl? Answer me!"  
  
Kuno was beginning to attract attention to their group with his ranting, as he wasn't exactly being quiet about it, so Nabiki shot him an icy glare. "Quiet, Kuno!" she ordered him. Then she realized that she was going to have to try and explain the curse to him and his sister if she wanted them to understand what was going on. An absent thought flickered across her mind, a regret that she wouldn't be able to make a profit off of the situation, but she squashed it ruthlessly. This was neither the time nor place. She sighed and let her cold demeanour defrost a bit as she looked at the Kuno siblings. Kodachi was watching her with interest, curiosity as to how she would answer the question overriding her grief.  
  
Deciding that it would be best to keep the story as simple as possible, she decided to tell them the plain facts about how Ranma had gotten his curse.  
  
"Alright, listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once," she started with a bit of impatience. "Shortly before Ranma arrived in Nerima, he and his father went to China to train. They went to the Jusenkyo training grounds and fought each other over the pools there. Ranma knocked his father into one of the pools, and a panda wearing his father's clothes came out. It knocked Ranma into a different pool, and when he surfaced, he had been turned into a girl. Turns out that the pools were cursed, and you turned into whatever drowned there. Hot water returns you to normal until the next time you're hit with cold water. Ranma and the pig-tailed girl are the same person." Not checking to see if they'd digested the story or not, she quickly moved on. "As Kuno mentioned, Ranma was brought in as a girl. Apparently the heavy rains we've been having for the past week left some puddles in the bottom of the chasm, which Ranma landed in. The doctors are still checking her over, but someone should be out soon to tell us what her condition is." Having given out her information, Nabiki moved over to one of the chairs in the waiting room and sat down, keeping an eye out for any approaching doctors who might have news of Ranma's condition. Mousse and Kuno remained standing, while Kasumi sat down beside Nabiki. Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi all sat down next to each other, too upset to realize that they usually didn't like to be around the others.  
  
It was an hour before a doctor finally approached their group. Nabiki and Kasumi stood up to greet him.  
  
"Well," he began, "I have some good news and some bad news." Nabiki let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure there was going to be *any* good news. The four girls still sitting down perked up at the mention of 'good news', as well. The doctor continued. "The good news is that most of her injuries aren't that severe. Because we've been having so much rain lately, the ground was very soft where she landed, preventing some more serious injuries. She's sprained a few muscles and will likely be sore when she wakes up, but overall, she's a very lucky girl." He paused a moment to let that sink in, before continuing. "The bad news is that she appears to have hit her head on a rock when she landed, or perhaps on the way down. She has a minor head wound. Unfortunately, head wounds often tend to be tricky, so we'd like to keep her under observation for a while after she wakes up. Besides that, though, I don't see any problem with letting family visit. Are any of you family?"  
  
Nabiki grimaced, and Kasumi spoke up. "She's been staying with our family for a while now with her father. But he left with Father two weeks ago, and we don't know when they'll be back, or how to get in contact with them." She frowned a little, the expression very out of place on the normally smiling girl's face.  
  
"How about her mother?" the doctor tried.  
  
Kasumi was about to respond that they had never met Ranma's mother, when Nabiki gasped and snapped her fingers in realization. "We have Mrs. Saotome's address at home, Kasumi! She used to be good friends with Mom, remember?" Not waiting for a response from her sister she turned and asked the doctor, "Could some of us visit in the meantime?"  
  
To most of the people assembled's dismay, the doctor shook his head. "Until she wakes up, I'd prefer if only family visited." Nabiki nodded in acknowledgement, and the doctor left. She turned and faced the others.  
  
"Okay, people," she told them, "Let's all head home and get some rest. The hospital will contact us if there's any change, and we'll let you know as soon as they do. While we're waiting, I'm going to try and find Mom's old address book, or some clue as to where Mrs. Saotome lives." All of the others nodded, although Kuno did wind up having to escort Kodachi out. They all split up, and went to their respective homes to get some rest.  
  
********************  
  
The next day found the middle Tendo daughter searching through her mother's old stuff. Nabiki smirked in satisfaction when she finally managed to dig up her mother's old address book. It was times like this that she was glad that her dad was so sentimental. Flipping through, she eventually found and address for a 'Saotome Nodoka', which she hoped was Ranma's mom. She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that the address was only a short train ride away. That meant she could probably find Mrs. Saotome today, and make arrangements for a hospital visit.  
  
She was passing by Akane's room on her way out, when she paused at her sister's open door. The youngest Tendo just sat on her bed, staring at the wall. 'Poor kid,' she thought to herself. 'She's taking this pretty badly.' She stepped into the room, but the blue-haired girl didn't seem to notice. "Hey, Akane," she began, to get her sister's attention. When Akane finally looked at her, she realized that she didn't know what to say. She wasn't good at the comforting business; that was Kasumi's gig. She looked down at the address book she held in her hands and decided that if she couldn't comfort her sister, she could at least keep her mind off of things. "I found Mrs. Saotome's address," she mentioned, holding up their mother's book. "Do you think you could go and explain to her what's going on? I've got things I need to do today," which was a lie, "and Kasumi needs to wait to hear back from the hospital." While she had been talking, she had begun to walk over to Akane's bed, where the girl was sitting, and held the address book out to her. Akane reached out and took the book, and finally some life seemed to seep back into her eyes.  
  
"Okay," she said. Her voice a bit hoarse from all the crying she had done the night before. She smiled weakly at her sister as she stood up and left her room. "Thanks, Nabiki."  
  
"You know, Akane, people usually don't thank people for giving them work to do," Nabiki teased. Akane just smiled again, this time with a touch of exasperation.  
  
"You know what I meant." And then Akane left to catch a train to the area that Mrs. Saotome lived in.  
  
'You've grown soft,' Mauduin whispered into her head, with the same teasing tone she had just used on Akane.  
  
Nabiki didn't dignify that with a response.  
  
********************  
  
A coppery haired woman answered the door of the Saotome residence when Akane finally arrived. She was dressed in a summer kimono, and her hair was tied into a bun in the back. "Can I help you?" she asked Akane.  
  
Akane paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then she realized that she had better make sure that this was Ranma's mother before she started telling this woman about the entire situation. "Umm... Is this the Saotome residence?" she queried politely.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"My name's Tendo Akane," she began. The woman's eyes widened in recognition of the name 'Tendo'. "I was wondering if you were Ranma's mother?" If the lady's eyes had gone wide before, they became saucers at the mention of Ranma. She quickly ushered Akane in, and made her comfortable in a small, cozy, living room. She asked Akane if she would like any tea, which Akane politely declined.  
  
"You know my son?" Nodoka asked, her voice trembling slightly. Akane wasn't quite sure what to make of it so she nodded cautiously, and then elaborated.  
  
"He and Mr. Saotome have been staying with my family for a while now. He's in my class at Furinkan High School, too."  
  
"Genma? He's at the dojo?" she inquired. Akane wondered for a minute about how she knew about the dojo, but then remembered what Nabiki had said; that their mother and Mrs. Saotome had been good friends.  
  
"Well, actually," Akane began, wincing slightly, "he and my father left on a training trip a little while ago. We don't know when exactly to expect them back." At this point, Nodoka's face went disturbingly blank.  
  
"You're sister... Kasumi right?" at Akane's nod, Nodoka continued. "Kasumi's nineteen now, isn't she? Is she the one left in charge, or has she married and left home already?"  
  
"No Kasumi is still home, and she is the one in charge of us seeing as how she usually takes care of us anyways. Why? Is something wrong?"  
  
"I will have words with my husband and your father when they return," the older lady said severely. "It isn't right to leave a nineteen year old girl in charge of a group of high school students alone, when she is hardly out of high school herself. What if an emergency happened?" Akane couldn't look Mrs. Saotome in the face. Quickly the coppery haired woman noticed, and her stern demeanour faded, replaced with deep-rooted concern. "Is everything all right, dear? What's happened?" Akane couldn't bring herself to look at Mrs. Saotome. Her shoulders began to shake a bit, as tears began to well up again. Nodoka went pale. "My son." Akane hiccoughed, the tears getting harder to hold back. "What's wrong with my son?!" she asked in a slight panic.  
  
Finally, the dam burst, and the tears began to pour from the blue haired girl's eyes. She brought her hands to her face, in an attempt to muffle her sobs. She heard a rustle of clothing as the older lady came to sit beside her. Akane was wrapped in a gentle hug and rocked slightly until her tears abated. When she finally looked up again, she saw how pale Mrs. Saotome was, and that she had started to cry as well. "He... He's in hospital," she finally managed to grate out. And then, like her tears had just a moment before, the story about what had happened flooded from her mouth. When she was through, Nodoka took a few moments to collect herself from the shock she had just received. Then she turned to Akane, her eyes grave.  
  
"Ten years ago, my husband took my child from me so that he could be trained in the martial arts away from my 'coddling influences'." There was bitterness in her voice as she spoke the last words. "Since then, I have gotten sparse post-cards, but nothing in years. My husband has been staying with your family for some time you say, and yet he did not deem it necessary to contact me. And now, I find that my son has been injured, in a situation that had things been only slightly different, he would not have survived. Had I known this would be the result all those years ago, I would not have let them go, with only a promise, that means nothing to me, as a guarantee of their safe return." Her jaw was clenched, as she fought anger, rooted in ten years of loneliness. She took several deep calming breaths as she tried to regain control of her emotions. In the meantime, Akane tried to figure out what Mr. Saotome could have possibly promised.  
  
"The doctor said that family could visit, did he not?" she asked in a controlled voice. Akane nodded. "Then will you come with me to the hospital? I think I would like to see my son now."  
  
Akane was about to agree, when she realized with a rush that she hadn't told Mrs. Saotome about the curse yet! "A... actually," she stuttered, "there is something I still have to tell you..." she trailed off. Seeing that Akane was having trouble, Nodoka softened her face, and gave the girl a motherly smile.  
  
"Come now, dear. Whatever it is, it can't be any worse, can it?"  
  
Akane winced. "It... it all depends on your point of view, I suppose," she evaded for a moment, then steeled herself. Remembering Nabiki's speech to the Kuno's at the hospital she told just the basics. When she was done, Nodoka was looking at her a bit incredulously.  
  
"Is this a joke, Akane? Because if it is, I don't think it's very funny considering the circumstances."  
  
Schooling her face into her most serious expression, Akane looked Mrs. Saotome directly in the eye and told her, "I'm not laughing." Nodoka looked at her searchingly for a moment, before nodding slightly in acknowledgement.  
  
"I will trust you, for the moment," she informed the younger girl. "But if I have found that you have deceived me, I will not be pleased." Akane acknowledged the statement with a slight incline to her head. Nodoka's features softened again. "Then shall we head off? I am most eager to see my son." Akane smiled, and they left for the hospital together.  
  
*******************  
  
Akane and Nodoka didn't realize that as they entered the hospital together they were being watched. Sasuke saw them both being lead away to see Ranma, Akane being brought along on Mrs. Saotome's insistence. He left to report to Master Kuno and Mistress Kodachi, missing the white robed figure who also left the vicinity.  
  
*******************  
  
Mousse ran quickly to tell his love Shampoo about the treachery of the Tendo's. Obviously Ranma had woken up, yet Tendo Nabiki hadn't kept up her end of the bargain. He only realized after he had told her of how Akane and another girl, possible Nabiki or Kasumi, had gone to see Ranma that he should have put his glasses on first, as it turned out that he had just told Ukyo.  
  
********************  
  
Shampoo did manage to catch up to Ukyo, using her delivery bike, and happened to arrive at the same time as Kodachi. Kuno was still meditating on the information about the Jusenkyo curses, and thus didn't even allow Sasuke to tell him anything before dismissing him from his presence.  
  
They nodded to each other in a temporary truce, before entering the hospital, intent on finding out where Ranma's room was.  
  
*******************  
  
Nodoka eyed the girl she had been taken to see critically. There was definitely a family resemblance; if only Akane's story hadn't been so hard to believe... For now she wouldn't stain the girl's honour by accusing her of lying. Which left her with the situation that this girl on the bed was actually her son. Her face softened a bit as she took in her child's condition. "He... she, looks so peaceful. I wish I could talk with my son, let him know I'm there if he, she, needs me," Ranma's mother told Akane.  
  
Akane gave a wry little grin. "He may look peaceful now, but when he's up and active, steer clear for fear of injuries." Akane's grin widened into a smile as she described this.  
  
"He was like that as a baby, too," Nodoka added in, smiling slightly. "'Bulldozer Ranma. Stay out of my way'." Both women let out a slight laugh at the thought. Unfortunately the peace was not to last. It was at this moment that the task force that had assembled at the hospital entrance finally discovered their goal.  
  
"You no keep Shampoo away from husband!"  
  
"OHOHOHOHOHO! I will be with my beloved no matter what you do to stop me!"  
  
"You can't keep us out! We deserve our turn to see Ranchan!"  
  
"Open the door!" all three girls yelled in unison.  
  
"What's going on, Akane? Who are they?" asked a startled Nodoka.  
  
"Ranma's fan club. You might want to step back, they'll probably come in armed and ready to attack," Akane gritted out through clenched teeth. She noticed that Nodoka was absently picking at the wrapped bundle she had taken with her before they left the house. Then the door burst open.  
  
Shampoo had her bonbori out, and looked angry enough to use them. Kodachi was twirling a gymnastics ribbon idly, a haughty expression on her face. Ukyo, however, simply had her fists clenched and a betrayed look on her face. Akane faced them, in position to fight if she needed to. Then Ukyo saw Nodoka, and a puzzled look came over her face, her fists loosening. "Who're you?" she asked. That's when Shampoo and Kodachi noticed the stranger, and they echoed Ukyo's statement, confusion clouding their faces. Akane let out a sigh of relief, and released her battle stance.  
  
"Well," she began, "I was hoping to make a more formal introduction later, but this is Ranma's mother. Saotome Nodoka, this is Shampoo, Kuno Kodachi and Kuonji Ukyo," Akane told them all, indicating to each person as she said their name. Almost instantly after Nodoka was introduced, the others began to look a bit ashamed of their actions.  
  
"I should have know better than to trust anything Mousse told me, especially after he mistook me for Shampoo," Ukyo muttered. Shampoo chorused in with a 'Stupid Mousse'. "He told us that you and one of your sisters had gone to visit Ranma," Ukyo explained to the slightly confused Akane. "We thought that Nabiki had decided not to call us and that Ranma had woken up. Sorry about this."  
  
"Shampoo sorry, too." She grinned a bit evilly. "Shampoo have to make delicious roast duck for Akane and Mother Saotome as apology, yes?" Akane silently hoped that she wasn't serious, or that she'd at least use a real duck and not Mousse.  
  
"I was told a similar story by Sasuke. He will have to be punished most gravely for his surveillance error. I also offer my apologies." Kodachi's apology was the least sincere, as she just wished to make a good impression to her darling Ranma's mother.  
  
Nodoka inclined her head slightly, "I accept your apologies. However, while you're here, I would like to hear about how all of you met my son."  
  
********************  
  
"So that's basically all of the important things that have happened in Ranchan's life," Ukyo finished. "That's how he ended up with three fiancée's and several other romantic interests." At the last bit she glared at Kodachi who ignored her.  
  
"We decided to let the Kuno's in on the curse in hopes of less problems. It seems it wouldn't have mattered." Akane and the other girls glared at each other. Their temporary truce seeming to end once the story telling had begun.  
  
Nodoka carefully considered all that she had heard about her son's life in the last little while. Her mind flitted back to a document in safe keeping at her home, covered in the handprints of a little boy she had lost forever. "Girls, would you mind leaving Akane and I alone with my son. I'd like to see him without a crowd." Nodoka made sure that she had carefully phrased that so that nobody was insulted. Not having any reason left to stay, the three girls mumbled their good-byes and left.  
  
********************  
  
Akane and Mrs. Saotome had opted to stay the night at the hospital in hopes that Ranma might wake up. Akane made sure to call home and let Kasumi know where she was so that her older sister wouldn't worry. As time wore on, both herself and Nodoka eventually fell into a light slumber. Akane kept waking up, vague impressions of Ranma slipping away if she didn't stay awake absurdly interrupting her sleep. It was in the early hours of the morning, during one her brief periods of being awake that she noticed a slight shift in Ranma's condition. She woke up Nodoka with a slight shake to her shoulder.  
  
"Hmm? What time is it, dear?" she asked sleepily.  
  
"Four in the morning." There was a brief pause." I think that Ranma might be waking up." Akane's voice was a bit unsteady with nervousness.  
  
Nodoka was wide awake now. She glanced around the room from the chair she had fallen asleep in. Her eyes landed on Akane. "What makes you think that, Akane?"  
  
"Well, her breathing's changing and she's started to toss and turn."  
  
"Have you talked to a doctor about this..." Nodoka trailed off as a quiet moan arose from the figure in the bed. Ranma slowly sat up, stretching stiff muscles, placing a hand to her forehead.  
  
"Wh... What happened? Where am I?" the petite redhead asked confused.  
  
"It'll be okay, Ranma," Akane said soothingly. "You had an accident, but you're not that badly hurt. Everything's going to be alright."  
  
"Ranma? Who's Ranma? Is that my name?"  
  
And then Akane's fragile hopes that everything was going to turn out all right shattered.  
  
********************  
  
Authors Notes:  
  
This is the last of the material that I had revised in advance, so now let's hope that I can keep myself from being lazy and get the rest out at a reasonable pace. Please note that I am a university student with a full course-load, plus I'm looking for a part-time job, so I don't have an abundance of time to spend on this. That being said, it would be reasonable for me to try and get something out at least once a month.^_^ If I don't, feel free to e-mail me, bugging me to find out what the problem is.  
  
Thanks to those who reviewed! Rae, I would have e-mailed you, but you didn't leave an address! Locke and the others won't show up for another few chapters, but Terra will be making regular appearances until they do. In my original outline *winces* they would have shown up in chapter seven, but I think that'll happen sooner now. I won't be able to say for certain until I revise the next couple of chapters. 


	4. Chapter Three Out of the Ashes

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI or Ranma 1/2, nor do I pretend to. Even if I did, the army of Lawyers that would come after me would make me change my mind. 

**The Nerima Returners**  
A Final Fantasy and Ranma 1/2 Crossover  
By Jade Dixon

Chapter 3- Out of the Ashes  
Last Revised: May 20, 2004

* * *

After a week of observation, the doctors concluded that there was nothing they could do to aid in the revival of Ranma's lost memories. They gave their blessings for Ranma to be released, under the stipulation that she rested at home for at least a week before doing anything stressful. 

"Right now, we can only hope that being in a familiar environment will help jog her memories. If it doesn't, don't get frustrated, these things can take time," the doctor advised them. 

So they signed the release papers, and Nabiki arranged for the fan club to stay home for a week. Akane didn't ask how she managed it. Some things are better left unsaid. 

Truth be told, Akane was just happy to be able to see Ranma again. After discovering Ranma couldn't remember her, she had gotten a bit angry and overemotional. Since then, the doctors had enforced the 'family only' rule strictly. Nabiki had drilled her the entire week about keeping herself under control and not losing her temper. She was sure she could manage it now. 

It didn't help matters that Ranma, with no evidence to the contrary, now believed that he was a girl. It had been too risky to try changing him back while at the hospital and they had decided to wait on showing Ranma the truth for fear it would cause the girl trauma in her fragile state when she first arrived home. However, if by the end of the week there had been no progress, they would risk it. 

Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi waited outside the front entrance to the dojo, waiting for the taxi carrying Nodoka and her 'daughter'. Akane paced back and forth, letting her anxiety shine through, while Nabiki merely leaned calmly against the compound wall, and Kasumi talked cheerfully with a neighbour she hadn't seen in a while. 

Finally, the cab arrived and deposited its cargo. Nodoka helped her offspring out gently, and guided her over to the Tendo sisters. 

"Ranma, these are Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki, and Tendo Akane, whom you've already met," she introduced gently, with her arm around the red-head's shoulders. "This is the Tendo Dojo, where we'll be staying for the next little while." 

Ranma just looked confused. "Why are we staying here instead of at our own home?" she asked innocently. Nodoka winced. 

"It's a bit complicated, dear, but you've lived here more than you have lived at the family home. We hope that by staying in a place more familiar to you, that you'll be able to recover your memories faster," the older woman explained. 

"Oh," Ranma replied meekly. 

They entered the house.

* * *

Back in her element as hostess, Kasumi seated them all at the dining room table and bustled around the kitchen fetching refreshments and making snacks. She tried to remember what Ranma's favourites were, but he had never expressed any preference, simply eating rapidly whatever was put down in front of him (excluding Akane's cooking, of course). 

Meanwhile, at the table, an awkward silence settled. None of them knew quite where to begin. Akane was the first to break under the pressure, and nervously spoke up. 

"Umm... I'm Akane. We're in the same class at school," she tried, feeling rather stupid. 

"Yes, I remember you from the hospital..." Ranma began, but then trailed off, embarrassed at bringing up what was sure to be a shameful memory for the blue-haired girl. 

Akane winced, remembering how hysterical she had gotten when she had first discovered that Ranma had lost his memory. "I'm really sorry about that, I don't know what got into me!" She furrowed her brow in thought. "I guess it was just the shock of the moment, although that's no excuse. A martial artist should always have control over their emotions." The youngest Tendo barely restrained herself from wincing over that as well. It had been one of the points that Nabiki had spent the last week drilling her on. Even more humiliating was that she was forced to take the lesson from a non-martial artist. 

"So you're a martial artist?" Ranma spoke up eagerly, happy to be able to home in on a piece of information that wasn't directly related to her current lack of memory. 

"Yup," Akane confirmed proudly, although a bit disappointed that Ranma hadn't remembered even that much about her. "So are you, in fact. Well, normally, I mean." 

And again that awkward silence descended. 

Kasumi returned with the snacks she had made, and smiled kindly at the shy girl sitting in their midst. "Are you feeling better today, Ranma? I heard your muscles have been giving you a lot of grief from the accident you were in." 

Ranma returned the smile timidly, and answered the question. "Yes, I'm feeling much better today, thank-you... Kasumi, wasn't it?" 

Kasumi beamed at her. "That's right. Well, if you have any more problems, you should go see Dr. Tofu, our local chiropractor. He's a bit of a funny man, but he does his job well, and is very kind. I'm sure you'll like him!" 

"Thank-you," Ranma said, and took a sip from her teacup. 

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki spoke up for the first time since Ranma had arrived. "Why don't you show Ranma to the dojo. Maybe it will spark some memories." 

"Sure, Nabiki," Akane responded and then stood up. She held her hand out to the red-head. "Would you like to come with me to see the dojo?" She gave the other girl an encouraging smile. 

Ranma looked to her mother first, and after receiving an approving nod, she turned back to Akane and took her hand, standing up as well. "Okay."

* * *

Ranma looked around the dojo with interest, but nothing sparked any familiarity with her. "Did I spend a lot of time here?" she inquired after her companion. 

"In the last few months that you've been living with us, you've spent a fair amount of time here," Akane confirmed. She then corrected herself, "Well, actually, you fought more outside with your father and other challengers, but this would have been one of the more constant locations. We'll show you some of the others once we're sure that you've rested enough." 

Under Akane's watchful eye, Ranma explored the inner perimeter of the dojo, running her hand along the many obvious repairs to the walls. She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing. Not a spark, not a glimpse." She lowered her hand, and clenched it in a fist, bowing her head. "I'm so sorry about this. It's very frustrating for me too." 

"It's alright," Akane soothed, walking over to the distraught girl, and putting an arm around her shoulders. "It'll all come back eventually, you'll see. It's just going to take some time, like the doctors said." 

"But that doesn't help me now!" Ranma hissed in frustration. She had disentangled herself from Akane's hug, and paced for a few moments before turning to a practice dummy and throwing a perfect punch at it to relieve stress. "It's not fair! Why has this happened to me, and not someone else?" The red-head swivelled to face Akane again, and was brought up short by the look on the girl's face. "Akane? Are you alright?" She hurried over to the youngest Tendo in concern. 

"Do you realize what you just did, Ranma?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice. "Your posture, balance, breathing, it was all perfect when you threw that punch!" A smile was beginning to form. 

Ranma just looked confused. "Well, you did say I was a martial artist right?" 

"Exactly!" Akane grabbed at Ranma's shoulders. "Even if your brain is having problems remember things, your muscles haven't. You were so good, that it's become instinct, and maybe if we can get your body to start moving the way it used to, it'll trigger you memories!" 

The red-head was still hesitant. "But if I can't even remember how to start, how can it work? Even throwing that punch was just by chance. I wouldn't even know where to begin..." 

Akane smiled encouragingly at her fiancé. "Don't worry, I'm sure it will all come back to--HYAH!" 

The chop to Ranma's neck was completely controlled, and Akane could have aborted it at any time if it looked like Ranma wasn't going to react properly. But just like she had expected, the amnesiac's body knew how to protect her better than her mind did, and the red-head ducked just before the attack would have struck home. Akane knew that the key to this would be refusing to allow the boy-turned-girl time to think, so she pressed the attack, dropping to the floor and performing a sweep-kick that the other back-flipped to avoid. 

They danced like this all around the dojo, until the moment that Akane was just a tad too slow in performing the next attack, and instead of the fluid dodges that she'd been performing up to this point, Ranma's move was jerky and off-balanced. The Tendo tried to pick up her speed to bring back the instincts, but it was too late. Ranma was now too aware of what she was doing to trust her body's judgement. She was distracted and edgy, panic beginning to fill her face. 

"Stop thinking so hard!" Akane yelled in frustration. Her own focus slipped just enough that her next attack actually connected when her partner failed to get out of the way in time. It was a solid punch into the red-head's stomach, and it sent her sprawling back with the wind knocked out of her. 

Akane froze. That wasn't supposed to have happened. She watched helplessly as Ranma slowly sat up, clutching her stomach. 

"Are... you alright?" 

The glare she received chilled her to her core. "Alright? Alright?! You attacked me, and now you ask if I'm alright?!" Ranma struggled up to her feet, and stood up gingerly. 

"I... was only trying to help. It seemed like it was working, at first..." Akane tried to justify weakly. She knew that she had lost control again. 

"Oh yeah, great help!" Ranma drawled with bitter sarcasm. It was strange hearing it from someone usually so optimistic, or at the very least sincere. "Let's beat up the girl who just got out of hospital because it might correct her amnesia. Great plan there!" 

"Hey!" Akane tried to protest, but Ranma just talked right over her. 

"Frankly, if this is the type of treatment I'll be expecting, I'm not even sure I'd want to get my memories back." 

Akane only watched despairingly as the red-head stalked out of the dojo. She only hoped that it didn't mean that Ranma was walking out of her life, as well.

* * *

The next day, Akane kept to her room, meditating and practicing other control techniques. She loathed the thought of having to do them, but yesterday's catastrophe proved Nabiki right. She had to learn better control, or she could really hurt someone. 

Of course, she didn't deny to herself that the real reason she was behaving like a hermit was because she was avoiding Ranma. Both times they had been alone together since the accident, she had acted like a fool, and upset the other girl. She was afraid if they were together any more she would cause more harm than good. 

It was at supper that Ranma decided to shake things up even more. 

"Mom, can I change my name?" 

Everything stopped. Nodoka choked on the tea she was sipping, Kasumi frowned with concern, Nabiki nearly spit out the rice she was chewing, and Akane snapped her chopsticks in half. They were all staring at the girl who had spoken up. 

"I don't think that's a good idea, Ranma," Nodoka said once she had regained her composure. "If you want to get your memory back it best to surround yourself with familiar things. Your name is a very important part of that." 

"It hasn't helped so far, has it?" Ranma pointed out. "And I don't like it. It's a stupid boy's name." Akane just stared. What kind of a childish argument was that? 

"Ranma! That is the name your father gave you, and you will respect it," Nodoka barked. 

A flicker of shame flashed across the red-head's face, and she bowed her head in apology. "I'm sorry, Mother," she whispered. Then raised her head with a determined expression on her face. "But that doesn't change the fact that I want to change my name. My memories will come back, or they won't. But I don't feel comfortable being called 'Ranma'. Certain things are expected from 'Ranma' that I can't demonstrate right now. It feels like I'm trying to lead a stranger's life." Here the petite girl shuddered. Kasumi handed her a cup of tea with a gentle smile to help warm her up. 

"Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma murmured gratefully, taking a sip with a sigh. "It's just, I'm trying to go with my instincts." A brief glance at the youngest Tendo that no one else noticed. Akane froze where she was about to begin her own protest to the amnesiac's decision. "Following my instincts is more likely to lead me to rediscover what I've lost then just idly doing what people tell me to without thought or reason." 

"That could be true..." Nodoka gave hesitantly. She knew this was a bad idea, but her daughter was giving a good argument. 

Akane, on the other hand, knew that Ranma now had no desire to get her memory back. She had hoped that the other girl hadn't been serious about her declaration to never regain her memories, but it appeared that the matter was more serious than she had first thought. 

'This is my fault,' Akane thought to herself, closing her eyes in resignation. 'But how do I prevent this from turning into a disaster?' 

"Alright then, Ranma," Nodoka conceded with a weary sigh. "I'm not saying that I agree to allow this yet, but did you at least have something in mind?" 

Here the red-headed girl paused. She tilted her head to the side and chewed absently on her bottom lip, obviously trying to think of a new name. 

"It should at least be similar to 'Ranma'," Akane piped up suddenly. There was silence for a moment. Nabiki couldn't help but to look at her younger sister in shock. She had expected ardent protests, not helpful advice! She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. There was more going on here than there seemed. 

Kasumi, utterly oblivious to the tension in the room, spoke up with her own suggestion. "How about 'Rana' then?" she spoke up. "It's different, but with enough similarities that it still might jog a memory..." She smiled supportively at their guest. 

Ranma returned the smile enthusiastically. "That's perfect, Kasumi!" She turned to her mother, hope shining from her eyes. "Oh, please, Mother! May I use 'Rana' as my name? Please?" Ranma had her hands clasped together as she begged her mother to give in. 

Nodoka was torn. She knew that this wouldn't be productive to regaining her son's memories, but on the other hand, Ranma did have a point about his name not helping so far. And the Tendo's seemed to be supportive... 

She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Very well, Ranma. You may go by Rana for now. However," she stared sternly at her overjoyed daughter who looked about to tackle her in gratitude, "It will not be official. If someone calls you Ranma, you will answer. Is that understood?" 

"Yes, Mother!" Ranma said with a grin, and then proceeded to attach herself to her mother's mid-section in a very enthusiastic hug. 

Kasumi, master of the art of making people feel comfortable, managed to steer them back to more normal conversations, so that dinner wasn't finished in an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

As Akane was heading up to her room for the night she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around just in time to be enveloped in a hug by Ranma. 

"Wha...?" 

"Thank-you," the red-head smiled at her contentedly after releasing the youngest Tendo from the embrace. "For your support at dinner," she explained after Akane gave her a puzzled look. 

Akane stiffened. "It was time for me to take responsibility for my actions," she muttered uneasily. "I owed you one for what happened in the dojo. Honour demanded that I repay my debt." The words came out forced, it would take time for the ideals she had recently re-embraced to become natural, but she was trying. Like Nabiki had told her while they waited for Ranma to come home from the hospital, for too long had she used the Art as a way of smashing through her problems. It was time to realize that the Art was worse than useless unless she followed the ideals it preached as well. 

For a moment, Ranma looked lost, but then she regained her equilibrium, and smiled again. "Well, whatever the reason, I'm grateful. 'Night, Akane!" She walked down the hall to the guest bedroom she was currently sharing with her mother. 

"Good-night... Rana..." Akane whispered.

* * *

They were arguing. Again. 

Nabiki sighed from where she was working on a homework assignment as Akane and Rana argued over another point of Ranma's history. Frankly, Nabiki actually wasn't surprised in the least. After all, if she hadn't witnessed most of it, she wouldn't have believed most of this stuff had happened to Ranma either. And that's even considering the fact that she herself had learned magic from a dead monster, and had said tutor's daughter stuck in her older sister's head. What did surprise her though, was how long it was taking Akane to blow up, and how easily Rana was accepting things, overall. 

Maybe Akane had listened to her after all... 

She still wasn't sure what had happened two night's ago when Ranma had opted to change her name to Rana, but she was determined to find out. 

Eventually. 

Right now, all she could do was watch and, hopefully, learn some useful information. For instance, despite their constant arguments, Akane and Rana seemed to get along fairly well. Certainly better than Akane had when Ranma still had his memories. 

Suddenly, Rana took a menacing step towards Akane, and Nabiki tensed, hoping that this wouldn't come to blows. Akane was tense too, and seemed to be preparing to block anything the red-head might throw at her. 

With or without memories, Ranma's body had been trained to move with extreme speed, and Akane didn't stand a chance. Even as she brought her arms up to block, Rana's fingers tapped her in the middle of her forehead. The youngest Tendo blinked in confusion and stared bewildered at the other girl who was grinning like a maniac. 

"Tag, you're it!" she yelled and raced around her friend to run through the house. Akane spluttered quite indignantly until realizing that the longer she waited the longer the other girl had to get away. 

"Hey!" Akane yelled as she tore through the house after the other girl, a laugh bubbling through her lips without her permission. "No fair! You cheated!" 

Nabiki just stared at the spot they'd been standing at. Then she shook her head and continued with her assignment. She'd figured out what just happened later. If she tried now, she was sure that her brain would explode from the strain.

* * *

That was the first example of Rana trying to recapture the childhood she couldn't remember, but it certainly wasn't the last. For the remainder of the week, the entire household was treated to tag games, hide and seek, childhood songs, and other activities that they considered themselves to grown-up to participate in, but secretly enjoyed the chance to experience again. 

Kasumi was delighted to have a 'younger' child in the house again. It allowed her to play her mothering role far more completely. And it was good practice for when she would have her own family. 

Nodoka wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand, it gave her the rather bizarre opportunity to have a part in her baby's lost childhood. On the other hand, Rana seemed to be developing her own personality, and Nodoka couldn't help but fear that she was losing Ranma forever. It seemed to be a ridiculous notion, after all, they were the same person, but each day that passed that Rana did not remember being Ranma felt like another inch that her son was slipping away from her. 

It was the sixth night since Ranma had been brought home from the hospital, and the first time that Nabiki had a chance to talk with Terra about the amnesiac. 

It was strange to see Terra looking so... cheerful. When she asked the half-Esper about it, she blushed a bit. 

"It's nice to have children here in the house again," she explained with a tentative smile. "I know Rana's not really a child, but she acts like one most of the time, and she also manages to get the rest of you to participating in her games. It reminded me of Mobliz..." Terra trailed off at the end, a slight frown on her face. 

Now Nabiki's curiosity had been piqued. Besides explaining the plight of her friends, Terra didn't talk much about herself or her world. "Was Mobliz your hometown?" she prodded gently. 

At this, Terra looked startled. "What...? Oh... no. I didn't really have a hometown. Mobliz was decimated when Kefka destroyed the world. All the adults died." Sadness was painted across Kasumi's face. It was times like these that Nabiki could tell that the woman she was talking to wasn't her sister. "I was travelling at the time," she continued, "And when I arrived, I stayed. The oldest children were sixteen. They didn't know how to care for the little ones. Neither did I, for that matter," she admitted ruefully. "But I couldn't just leave them there..." 

And Nabiki watched as a smile crossed the girl's face. If she hadn't known better, she would have assumed that she truly was talking to Kasumi. 

"They called me 'Mama'," she confided happily. "And I guess being able to mother people again reminded me of that. It was the happiest time of my life, being able to look after my children..." 

It was a completely new side to Terra that Nabiki had never seen before. Terra was a mysterious mage, an intriguing alien, a fighter with a purpose, a lost soul trying to find her way home, but never a woman with a family. Never someone with a past, and people to go home to. It was an eye opener. 

Nabiki didn't know what to say about that, and so it turned to 'business-as-usual'. Since Nabiki had black-mailed the crowd into staying home for the week so Ranma could recuperate, it had been extremely quiet on the magical front. Nothing unusual to investigate, no leads on the Key. But even frustration over that couldn't seem to dampen Terra's spirits, and she left Nabiki's room with a small smile on her face, and humming a strange little tune. 

Nabiki sighed and went to bed. One day her life would be normal. One day...

* * *

It was the last day of the week they had allotted themselves to restore Ranma's memory before trying the curse. They were all a little nervous about it. Sure, they had told Rana that she was really a boy a few days previous, but the skeptical girl had merely raised an eyebrow, glanced down at her chest, and smirked. Akane had spent the rest of the day glaring at Nabiki for being a bad influence. Nabiki, of course, just ignored her. 

And it was interesting to note, that despite the fact that she claimed she didn't believe them, Rana had spent the last few days avoiding hot water like the plague. 

Now they were all seated around the breakfast table, and Rana shifted nervously from where she was sitting, sensing the tension that was in the air. 

"Rana," Nodoka finally began. As the eldest in the household, and Ranma's mother she felt it was her duty to broach this subject. "You remember when Akane told you about the Jusenkyo curse, correct?" she began. 

The red-head, sensing where this was going, froze for a moment, before nodding cautiously. Only Akane knew that her hesitation was because she didn't want to get her memories back, and she was afraid that this option might work. 

"Well," Nodoka continued, oblivious to her daughter's unease, "Now that you've had time to rest and regain your strength, we believe it might be a good idea to show you how it works." The older woman paused for a moment to see how Rana was taking the news. 

The child's carefree visage was gone, masked by a controlled blankness that broke her heart. The poor girl was probably terrified. After all, how would she feel if she was told she was about to be turned into a boy. 

She laid a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It will be alright, Rana," she soothed. "If the change brings back your memories, then you'll be used to the experience. If not, then we can change you back. There's nothing to be concerned about." 

Rana managed a weak smile to reassure her mother. Happy with her daughter's compliance she turned to Kasumi. "Would you be a dear and fetch a kettle please, Kasumi?" she requested. 

"Of course, Mrs. Saotome!" She rushed off to the kitchen to fetch the large kettle that was already boiling on the stove. She walked back slowly, but even that could not cool down the water enough to be anything but painful when poured over a person. 

"Hey, that hurts!" Rana screeched as Kasumi began dousing the red-headed girl with the contents of the kettle. Soon enough, the water was gone, and Kasumi stepped back a bit. What she saw caused her to drop the kettle. 

Skin already beginning to pink a little from the abuse it had just gone through, the red-headed girl sat in a rapidly spreading pool of water, picking at her damp clothes. 

Red-headed girl. 

Nodoka was staring at the child she had been told was her son in shock. Anger began to boil inside her as she realized that she had been lied to. She should have known better than to believe such a foolish tale. Water activated curses indeed! She was just about to demand an explanation when she took in the expressions of the Tendo girls. 

Nabiki had frozen. It seemed she was trying to regain her composure. But Nodoka was not blind. She knew that the middle Tendo would not be above deceiving someone if it suited her own purposes. Akane was doing a remarkable impression of a landed fish, but the girl had admitted to being involved with acting from time to time. 

It was Kasumi's reaction that cooled her rage down to a simmer. Kind, gentle, honest Kasumi, with not a deceptive bone in her body was staring in shock at Rana, eyes wide, hand covering her gasp of surprise. Nodoka could tell, even with the hand in front of her mouth that, for once, the older girl was not smiling. 

This reminded Nodoka that it had not just been the Tendo's who had explained Ranma's strange life, but those other girls at the hospital as well. Whatever the evidence her eyes were giving her, there was more to this story than there seemed. 

It was Rana who broke the silence. 

"Well, that was productive," she chewed out with great sarcasm. That earned her a sharp glance from her mother to which she responded with a sullen 'sorry' before the copper-haired woman turned her attention to the Tendo's. 

By this point, Kasumi had gotten a hold of herself, and was cleaning up the spilled water around Rana with a towel she had brought with her from the kitchen. She was also murmuring to the red-headed girl about finding her a change of clothes so that she didn't catch a chill. Nabiki was looking at Rana through narrowed eyes, and Akane just looked lost. 

"I am looking," Nodoka began firmly, looking at each of them in turn, "For explanations as to what just happened." Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and she looked far from amused. 

"I...I don't understand! It should have worked!" Akane was absolutely flabbergasted. This didn't make any sense at all! 

"That water was definitely more than hot enough," confirmed Nabiki, brows drawn into a frown as she tried to puzzle through this unexpected turn of events. She walked around the table and poked experimentally at one of Rana's breasts. 

"Ummm, could you not do that, please?" Rana requested with wide eyes at the strange behaviour. 

Ignoring the Rana's words, Nabiki stood again, and placed her hand at her chin, in a classical 'thinking' pose. "The curse has been locked in place before, but I can't think what would have caused it this time. Maybe there was something funny with the water at the site of the accident?" The skeptical tone of her voice told the others how much weight she'd put on that theory. 

"Perhaps we could ask Shampoo's grand-mother," Kasumi suggested as she finished mopping up. "Doesn't she know a lot about the curses, and magic?" 

Nabiki paused. That didn't sound like something Kasumi would say. Not so much as the content, but the tone. Terra? "It's a possibility," she played along in the meantime. "Might as well wait until tomorrow, though, when the rest of the crazies come for their visit." 

Akane was about to open her mouth to comment on that when Rana stood up, effectively cutting her off. 

"Well, while you guys have fun talking about me, I'm going to go get changed." She stalked out of the room in a huff. Nodoka frowned at her daughter's behaviour, which she seemed to be doing a lot lately, but let it pass this time. Once Rana had left the room, Akane picked up where she'd left off, after a nervous glance at the red-head's retreat. 

"You mean they're back tomorrow?" she hissed at Nabiki irritably. "Ranma still doesn't remember anything! We certainly won't be ready with only one day left. The curse was our last chance for a quick solution to this! Can't you hold them back any longer?" 

Nabiki raised a condescending eyebrow at her sister and responded coolly. "The doctor recommended a week of rest before doing anything stressful. That's why we waited a week before trying the curse, if you recall. Do you think anything short of a doctor's orders could keep all of them from descending on us like a pack of wolves tomorrow? Do you really think they'll believe me if I try to tell them Ranma still needs more time to recuperate?" Akane tried to protest but Nabiki cut her off, a bit of heat leaking into her voice. "Of course not! They'd assume we were hiding something, and they'd be right! We're lucky they agreed to stay away for the week as it is! Heck, we're lucky none of them got it into their heads to try and sneak in here anyway!" 

"That's enough, Nabiki!" Nodoka cut in authoritively. "Calm down a moment. You've worked yourself up." Nabiki plunked herself down into a seated position next to Nodoka, filling the space Rana had recently vacated. The older woman placed a hand on the girl's shoulder as she took a few deep breaths to cool down. 

Hesitantly, not wanting to upset her sister again, Akane asked, "How did you get them to stay away?" 

"Don't be nosy," Nabiki retorted, but with a playful snort that told Akane she wasn't really upset. "Anyway," she continued from her earlier rant, but back in control, "It might actually be a good thing at this point to have the bunch of them around. Ranma's familiar with them, so it's likely to prompt a memory or two. Or maybe the whole thing, who knows?" 

"Let's hope so," Nodoka murmured sadly. As much as she'd come to enjoy spending time with 'Rana', she would like a chance to get to know her son. 

The women looked at each other morosely as it started to become clear that getting Ranma's memory back would not be as easy as they'd hoped.

* * *

Between all the jigs and reels of the day, Nabiki hadn't found a chance to hunt down Terra for a talk. It wasn't until after everyone had found their ways to bed that she had finally gained an opportunity to sneak over to Kasumi's room. 

"So you did understand my message," Terra said to her, the moment she had closed the door. "I wasn't sure if I'd made it clear enough or not." 

Nabiki scowled. "You should be careful delivering messages like that. One of the others might have noticed. Kasumi doesn't sound like that." Helping Terra was all fine and good, but it wouldn't hurt to remind the girl that she was in this for Kasumi's welfare first and foremost. 

The half-Esper had the grace to blush. "I'm sorry. You're right, of course. It's just that we had talked just last night and I didn't think we should wait before discussing today's events." 

"Why the curse didn't work?" Nabiki guessed. Terra nodded eagerly. Nabiki rolled her eyes. The fighter got far too excited when it came to figuring out magical puzzles. "I don't see the point then," she sighed. "There was nothing unusual about it, it just didn't work." 

"Precisely!" Terra all but cut her off. "There was nothing unusual! The curse-magic flared, just like normal when it's about to activate, and then, at the last second, it just didn't work!" At Nabiki's blank look, Terra made a slight growl of frustration and began pacing the room. 

"Look, if the curse acted just like normal, why didn't it work? If it was an outside influence we would have noticed the intruding magical flow and been able to pin in from its source. But there wasn't. One minute the curse was going to work, and the next, it didn't. Something interfered, Nabiki. And if the curse wasn't suppressed from the outside..." 

"...then it must have come from within Ranma..." Nabiki breathed, finally realizing why the other girl was so excited. "If there were two magical forces of equal power, but incompatible, one would overshadow the other instead of doubling the output from the person's magical aura." 

"Essentially hiding whichever one of the two was not currently active," Terra confirmed. 

"So you think Ranma might have been the Key all along, and the curse just masked it?" Someone had to say out loud what they were dancing around. 

Nabiki watched as Terra took in a steadying breath. Trying not to let hope overwhelm her, because it would hurt too much if it turned out that they were wrong. 

"I'm saying that it's a possibility," she finally allowed herself to speak out loud, a light of hope that she couldn't suppress shining in her eyes. "It could also be that the second spell is something else entirely," she conceded, but it was obvious that she couldn't bring herself to believe that. 

"But why would the Key suppress the Jusenkyo curse?" Nabiki queried, still skeptical. It was too good to be true. 

At that question, Terra's face fell a bit. "I have no idea," she admitted with a downcast look on her face. "It's not as if the spell is gender specific. If that were the case Ranma would never have been the Key in the first place. It doesn't even have to be a living creature. Depending on the world, it can be an object or place." 

They stared at each other for a few minutes before Nabiki have up with a sigh of defeat. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to watch her a bit more closely..." 

Kasumi's face lit up in a brilliant smile as Terra pulled Nabiki into a hug. "Wouldn't it be wonderful," the possessed girl whispered whimsically, "If this were all over with soon?" 

Nabiki agreed, but she couldn't help but think that things would not be that simple.

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

For anyone who first started reading this on my website, this chapter contains the content of both the old three and four. I'm sorry for the long delay! This chapter took so long because I was extremely busy with school, and when I wasn't I had usually left my notes somewhere inconvenient. If things feel a bit disjointed, that's probably because I wrote it in several different sittings, with bits and pieces at the beginning until I had time to just sit down and write it all out. Please review and let me know what you think.


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